DeWitt

Earlier in 2015, I had the opportunity to visit the watch manufacture of DeWitt in Geneva. The DeWitt brand has had its ups and downs over the years along with the global economy, but has recently really sorted out its organizational issues and is more than back on track to creating some of the most interesting and exclusive timepieces around – such as this quite rare DeWitt Academia Out Of Time collection. What makes DeWitt watches interesting and exclusive in my opinion? Well, in addition to producing a whole universe of very unique in-house made movements with some complications you won’t see anywhere else, DeWitt often employs designs and styles quite removed from the rest of the watch industry. With that said, DeWitt is still thoroughly a Swiss-born-and-bred watch company living in harmony with other unique niche luxury brands.read more

As expected the ONLY Watch 2011 went without a hitch last week. It raised € 4.5 million, about USD $ 6,075,000 as of this writing. Let’s take a look at some of the results. [see all of the watches: studio pics & in-the-flesh, hands-on]

Antiquorum Auctioneers – The collection of unique 40 timepieces achieves € 4.5 million at the Only Watch Charity Auction: Monaco, September 24, 2011 – The fourth edition of the biennial Only Watch Charity Auction held at the Hotel Hermitage in Monaco on September 23, in the presence of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, closed with an outstanding result of EUR 4’563’000. The auction room was full in addition to the strong internet and intense telephone bidding. International participation included Japan, Switzerland, Hong Kong, China, the United States and the Russian Federation. Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones was also present in the room to support the auction.read more

The Only Watch 2013 charity watch auction, which occurs every other year in Monaco, is coming up in September of 2013. aBlogtoWatch has created a full list (that we will update as more watches for the auction are released) of all the piece unique (one-of-a-kind) timepieces that will be offered at the event. onlywatch.com

Armin Strom One Week Skeleton Water

Backes and Strauss Victoria Princess Red Heart

Bell & Ross Flight Instrument Collection Orange

Blancpain White Dove

Breguet Classique Chronograph 5284

Chanel Premiere Flying Tourbillon Only Watch 2013

Chopard L.U.C. Tourbillon Engraved

Christophe Claret X-Trem-1 Pinball

Chronoswiss The Three Apes

Corum Ti-Bridge 3 Day Power Reserve Only Watch 2013

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Cyrus Kambys

De Bethune DB28 Skybridge MC

deLaCour Red Dots

DeWitt Twenty-8 Skeleton Tourbillon

Frédérique Constant Double Heart Only Watch

Girard-Perregaux Chrono Hawk Only Watch

Harry Winston Midnight Big Date Only Watch

Hublot Classic Fusion Skeleton Tourbillon Red Ceramic

Jaquet Droz The Loving Buttery Fly

Julien Coudray Manufactura 1528 Only Watch

Laurent Ferrier Galet Classic Tourbillon Double Spiral Only Watch

Louis Vuitton Tambour Spin Time Regatta

Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hours for Monaco

Yesterday in Monaco, the Only Watch 2013 auction was held and the results are in. The event is meant to raise money for a medical charity, to which 100% of the proceeds go. Each of the watches submitted are totally unique and donated by the participating brands. People get very interested in the results, as it is not only a sign of the economy when it comes to Monaco’s wealthy elite (and others), but also the interest people have in specific brands and models. The total yield of Only Watch 2013 was 5,066,000 Euros (most of which is thanks to a single watch).read more

Auctions are best suited to the sale of unique items that aren’t otherwise available on the market. For that reason, I always look forward to the interesting watches that are donated to the Only Watch auction series which is currently being run by the auction house Christie’s. Only Watch is an event that we’ve covered a lot over the years on aBlogtoWatch, and the next installment of this biennial auction sale will happen in Geneva on November 11th, 2017.

The Only Watch auction series isn’t as strong an event as it used to be, but its main theme continues to be respected. The idea is that watch brands submit unique watches made especially to be donated and sold at the auction. These are unique prototypes or are the first in a limited-edition series. The proceeds (minus all sorts of fees, I am sure) are to be given to Association Monegasque Contre le Myopathies (AMM) whose goal is to fund medical research to help treat a form of muscular dystrophy.read more

DeWitt is a very niche Swiss brand that likes to remind you that owner Jerome DeWitt is a descendent of Napoleon Bonaparte. While that is kind of cool for him, the brand mostly gets our attention with technical horology and unexpected designs. The avant-garde Academia collection with its rare complications is the brand’s signature, and the new DeWitt Academia Skeleton is the latest addition. While the name of the watch would seem to suggest that the skeletonization is the main show, it is the “bi-retrograde” seconds hand that stands out the most.read more

For many of its wonderful strangeness, you have got to love watches such as the DeWitt Academia Out Of Time for the sheer effort to be successfully distinct. More so, I find that DeWitt watches are always so effortlessly distinct, so they aren’t hoping to merely adapt existing aesthetic genres however they’re really just doing anything they want from a design standpoint. That’s assurance, and the type of assurance I want to find in a new whose motto is providing exclusive products to exclusive men and women. At least with a DeWitt on your wrist, you do not have to feign private originality.Price for the DeWitt Academia Out Of Time reference AC.OUT.001 watch is63,700. Back a few years back once the money flowed like wine – the luxury watch world was known to take generous, deep sips from the pool. It was a gold age of fresh ideas, designs and brands. A promising brand that might not reach the next decade will be DeWitt. I have always enjoyed the vast majority of their layouts, and found their doctrine fascinating. This really is one of the coolest models in my opinion. A neat looking perpetual calendar watch with a GMT hand. The instances either had white or rose gold, combined with black ceramic and polished titanium. I have checked out these pieces before, and they are well made with really bold designs. I love the quasi-checkered bezels iconic to this brand. read more

I began writing this article over a month ago in my mind, but haven’t begun reducing it to writing until now. It’s not that I struggle to find words suitable for this watch, rather, its a watch that inspires me to say so much. In fact, calling it a watch is almost a misnomer, because it is something else entirely. Yes it does fit on your wrist, and it does tell the time, but its really not meant for that. What I’d like to do is consider how some people might approach seeing this watch, and then present my articulated perception of what the DeWitt WX-1 Concept may really be.read more

Recently, while in Geneva, Switzerland, I had the opportunity to visit “manufacture DeWitt,” an impressive and resolutely niche high-end watch maker who produces almost everything themselves and is owned by Mr. Jerome DeWitt – whose family tree includes Napoleon Bonaparte. Jerome himself is a humble man whose main passions in life include mechanical things. One of the most impressive parts of the manufacture is his own personal collection of ancient machines (his “mechanical museum,” if you will). Jerome has the soul of an artist who is deeply interested in mechanics and the visual celebration thereof. It is actually his wife – who is currently in a directorial role at the company – that brought DeWitt back from some of its financial issues. Together, the dynamic DeWitt duo has strengthened the brand to make it the company of today that I really admire – a unique brand, whose timepieces all have something interesting to say (regardless of whether or not you like that statement).read more

Note that the giant semi-dial at 7 o’clock, with an interior 0-30 scale and outer 30-60 scale. It might have been a normal retrograde minutes hand which jumps back to the start – but no, we have noticed that before. Therefore, upon reaching the end of the lower scale at 30, the seconds hand juts forward to extend into the upper scale and begins its sweep slowly back into the opposite direction. At 60, of course, it retracts back to zero. The movie can help you know better than my description.It’s actually just a novel way of displaying the moments, but let us face it, mechanical watches are extremely similar to miniature Rube Goldberg machines, anyway: exceptionally complex but mesmerizing methods of attaining comparatively basic functions, such as suggesting the time. And in the end of horology, around DeWitt’s neighborhood, where small expense concerning time or money is spared, it gets even more complicated – and – mesmerizing.While we do not have any caseback pictures of this watch, we can pretty clearly see what happening in the movement in the dial side of the DeWitt Academia Skeleton. The energy book of over 100 hours has been displayed up around 2:30 – and we like power reserve indicators, particularly on manually wound motions like this DW1105S. But next to this, at around 10:30, you may see the large double barrel that’s open to also show you precisely how closely the mainspring is wound. Along with the balance wheel can be seen twitching off at 3Hz (21,600bph) around 4:30, providing even more eye-candy animation.On top of all that and the contemporary skeletonized motion, the improved gold palms seem to do a pretty good job of being legible and contrasting with the mainly brushed “black gold” (not petroleum) surfaces. The rose gold hands suit the DeWitt Academia Skeleton’s rose gold case that is 42.5mm wide and 10.25mm thick – which guarantees some wrist existence, but also to be quite wearable. On the case sides, black rubber forms what the firm calls “Dewitt royal columns” The DeWitt Academia Skeleton case is water resistant to 30m, no surprise there, and the lug width is a less common 21mm – so you might have a little more trouble locating a nato strap to match it.read more